Gun positioning system



Aug- 12 1947 J. F. JOY

` GUN PosITIoNING SYSTEM Filed May 18, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l Moa/Muga A. 12, 1947. F, JOY 2,425,329

GUN POSITIONING SYSTEM Filed May 18. 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gmc/who@ JclePh E JCE 3%; MVX/Ma Patented Aug. 12, v

UNITED STATES (Granted under the act or March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) i0 The repeater controlled hydraulic gun positioning systems of the prior art have been distinguished chiefly for the complexity of their control equipment with all the attendant nuisances of complexity such as expense, diiliculty of maintenance, and erratic operation.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide means ofsimple and reliable construction for positively and accurately training or pointing a gun under the controlof a remotely located iire control device.

The specic nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from the description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a. gun equipped with hydraulic training and pointing, equipment according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing the electric and hydraulic circuits involved in the pointing or elevation control.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view. partly in section, of the repeater motors and positioning control associated therewith.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the positioning disks and repeater motors, partially in section to show the positioning apertures therein.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference there is shown in Fig. 1 a gun l mounted for elevation and traverse on a base 2. A hydraulic training motor 3 is provided on the base 'i and operates traversing gear to move the gun in azimuth in a known manner. Ahydraulic eleshown) are provided to control the traversing gear, in response to impulses received through the control cable 1, from a data computing and transmitting station, as for instance, a. director 55, of prior known construction, shown formally in Figure 1, which conventionally includes sighting and tracking means and mechanism, so as to develop and transmit the data necessary for training a given gun on the target observed at the station.

Fig. 2 shows schematically the system employed for the control of elevation. It must be understood, however, that except for obvious modiiications the system is identical withthat used to position the gun in azimuth. The control equipment includes a line repeater motor 8f on the shaft 39 of which is mounted the rotation contactor comprising a contact arm 8 in iight frictional engagement with the shaft for rotation therewith through a limited arc. A contact lll is provided on the extremity of the arm 9 for establishing a circuit through either the contact Il or i2 depending upon the direction of rotation of the repeater motor. Series coils i3 and I4 energizing hold-in electromagnets may be employed to maintain the contact as long as current iiows in either line. The contacts il and i2 and also the holding coils le-lli may be conventionally mounted, say, by brackets on the case of the adjacent repeater of Figure 3, or other framing xed on the gun cradle. These features being well understood and optional are not illustrated in detail. It is the function of the rotation contactor to selectively make a circuit through the hydraulic valve operator corresponding to the direction of rotation of the repeater shaft, which corresponds with the rotation of the transmitter at the iire control station. Operating in conjunction with the repeater is a positionilng disc I5 provided with an aperture i6 for the passage of a light Ibeam.' Follow-up disc Il having a similar aperture I8 is arranged on an extension of the gun trunnion with the gun proper.

vating cylinder 4 is provided to move the gun 45 in elevation. An electric motor 5 or other prime mover is provided to drive a variable displacement, constant pressure hydraulic pump 6. Repeater motors 8f and 8c are provided to control the operation of the hydraulic elevating gear, these being mounted as a unit on a case 8, which encloses cooperative positioning and follow-up discs to be described. This case 8 may be iixed on the traversible mount portion on which the gun is trunnioned. A similar set of repeaters (not In the position in which the apertures of the discs match, the gun is in the position called for by the equipment at the lire control station. A light source I9 and photoelectric amplifier 20 (Fig. 4) are carried by the disc Il in alignment with the aperture and so arranged that unless the aperture I 6 in the disc I5 coincides with aperture I8 the light beam will .be unable to reach the photoelectric cell 2l. The amplifier 20 preferably employs a triode thermionic gaseous tube 22 of the Thyratron type and is so arranged as to cause the .relay 23` to be closed whenever the light 'beamI is interrupted.

The hydraulic system comprises an elevating cylinder 4 adapted to move the gun in elevation and having ports at either end of the cylinder communicating` by means of duct tubes 24 with a sensitive hydraulic control valve 25 of the balanced piston type. The piston of the valve must g be designed to provide greater lap onthe outlet sides, than' on .the intake to obtain earlier 'cutoli` of outlet than intake ports to insure the complete lling of the cylinderand the elimination of voids or cavities in the fluid such as mightv give rise to errors in gun alinement. The valve 25 is spring loaded to cause it to normally main- Itain the neutral position in which it is shown. ElectricA valve operators 26 and 21' of solenoidal or other convenient type are applied at either end of the control valve and a lever-28 is coupled to the valve to allow for manual actuation. Fluid is supplied to the valve under constant pressure through the line 29 from the pump, 6 while the vreturn circuit is completed through the line 30 connected with each end of the valve.

Fig.3 shows one arrangement of positioning disks and repeater motors which may be conveniently employed to control the gun, and which may in I emergency function in the same Way as a conventional follow-the-pointer system. The follow-up disk I1 is mounted on the gun trunnion shaft 3| and keyed thereto. The disk is provided With a anged rim 32 and it is in this rim that the positioning aperture I8 is formed. The rim 32 is further provided with gear teeth 33 on its outer periphery adapted to drive a pinion 34 which through an extended shaft 35 operates the gun trunnion fine index 35. Rotatably mounted on an extension of. the trunnion shaft 3| is .the positioning disk I5 which is provided with a flanged rim 36 having therein the positioning aperture IE and is further provided with gear teeth 31 adapted to be driven by a pinion 38 on the shaft 39 of the fine repeater 8f. Conveniently the shaft 39 will be made hollow and .through it will extend the shaft 35 of the trunnion index. An electrically controlled rotary annular ne index l4|) may be provided on the hollow shaft 39 of the repeater 8f and both indices 35 and 40 may register against a stationary "ine scale 4|. As previously pointed out the rotation contacter arm 9 is mounted on the fine repeater shaft 39 for selectively closing the circuit to'the proper valve operator depending upon the direction of rotation of the shaft 39.

In view ofthe limited load handling capacity of repeater motors of the "Selsyn type the frictional drag imposed by the rotation ycontacter should be barely suflicient to shift the arm, contact being maintained by the hold-in electromagnets |3 or I4, and the disk I5 should be extremely light in. weight and mounted on precision bearings. A coarse" repeater 8c similar to the repeater 8f is provided with an annular rotary electrically controlled index 42 registering against a stationary scale 43. An extension shaft 44 reaches from the trunnion through the hollow shaft of the repeater 8c and carries on its outer end the trunnion coarse index 45.

It is apparent .that in case of any failure in the control relays or electric valve operators the system may still function as a follow-the-pointer system, it only being necessary to actuate the hydraulic valves manually in such fashion as to match the trunnion indexes with the electrical indexes.

Preferably the rates between the coarse and fine" lndexeswill be 16 to 1 tov agree with the ratios existing in present re control equipment in which the coarse transmitter makes one revolution foreach 6400 mils of data transmitted while the fne transmitter. makes one revolution for each 400 mils of data transmitted. y The light source .I9 and photoelectric cell 2| with their associated relay equipment are preferably mounted in -a single housing 46, secured to the disk I1 and provided with a slot 41 Ain which the rims ofthe disks may .be received insuch a position as to allow the light beam from the lamp I9 to impinge upon the photoelectric cell 2| when .the apertures are in alignment.v Insulated slip rings 48, 49, and are provided on the in-ner face of the disk and operate against brushes 5|, 52 and 53 which are supported from a stationary .part of the mount toll'enable the controlling current to be maintained through the relay circuit as the disk rotates.

It will be realized that a similar result may be .achieved by modification of elevation or azimuth data receivers of the conventional "follow-thepoi-nter* type used with virtually all electrical data transmission systems to provide means by which the line receiver motor may, through reduction gearing of proper ratio, operate a positioning disk similar tp the disk. I5. The mechanical indexes would then be coupled to the gun trunnion in the usual manner and the electrical and mechanical indexes might be matched in the.

ordinary manner for manual operation.-

To summarize the operation of the 'system let it be assumed that the gun has been properly leveled and oriented with respect to the fire control device 55. If the fire control device is then elevated in tracking a target this will result in a similar rotation of the repeater motor 8f. Such rotation will swing the rotationcontactor arm 9 to a position in which the contact I0 engages one of the contacts II or I2 opposed toit. For illustration it may be assumed that the circuit was completed through the contact II. At the same time that this contact was established the rotation of the disk I5 moved the aperture I6 out of line with the aperture I8, breaking the light beam and allowing the relay 23 to close. Under these conditions current will flow through 1the valveoperator 21 allowing oil from the pump 6 to flow through the left one of the lines 24 vto the lower end of the elevating cylinder 4 and elevating the gun. Elevation of the gun results in rotation of the follow-up disk I1 and when the light beam again passes through the apertures the photoelectric relay circuit will operate to open the circuit through the valve' operator allowing the valve to close and locking the gun in 'aligned position. When the current in the circuit is interrupted the series energized hold-in magnet will release the r'otation contact arm 9.

While the control elements specifically described have been utilized to control the gun in elevation it will lbe realized that'a substantially identical system may be employed to control the gun in azimuth. For traversing the gun a hydraulic motor 3 driving ythe top carriage i-n any convenient manner may be utilized. Obviously the mechanical index andthe follow-up disk of the training control system must be arranged to be driven by the movement of the top carriage in azimuth.

It will be understood that the showing of the device made herein is somewhat diagrammatic and that refinements may occur to those skilled vreceiver of 8f drives the positioning disc l5 by means of a small gear 38, this disc rotates at a greatly reduced rate compared to that of the receiver motor. Also, as operation of the motor device 4 can not move the gun and disc II angularly faster than disc I5 moves, the gunand gear 33 are similarly driven in relation to the receiver motor 8f. However, a contrary eiect is manifest at index 35, since the relation between gears 33 and 34 is that of a speed increasing gear so that the member 35 will be rotated to the same extent as the one 40 when the apertures Iii-I8 are brought to register after operation of the receiver to displace the apertures.

As is known in re control devices including a coarse data receiver and a ne receiver, the fine receiver rotates at a rate which is a multiple of the rate of the coarse receiver, and the gearing between the receiver 8f and disc I5 between the disc I1 and index 35, and .the connection between the index 45 and trunnion and disc I'I will cause an approximately corresponding ratio between the indexes 35 and 45, as a necessary result of the gearing shown. 'Ihis will result in movement of the index 45 being nearly synchronous with that of the coarse receiver 8c, a slight lag being manifest due to the fact that on receipt of a change of data there will at rst be a slight delay in matching of the gun, disc Il and index 45 on one hand with the coarse receiver motor 8c and index 42 on the other, and a resultant angular lag of the index 35 relative .to the index 40, due .to the fact that a slight displacement of the apertures I6 and I8 is necessary before the motor device 4 operates.

The lag is only a matter of milliseconds, however, and is quickly recovered or.A made up at the termination of a signal. The signals customarily include dead time components which will allow for the time interval between the calculated position of the target and the ring of the gun at any instant, so that on ring during the reception of data the lag will not produce inaccuracy in gun pointing, being included as the "dead time component of the data transmitted.

The indexes 40 and 42 operated by the receivers 8f and 8c may be termed electrical indexes since they are directly responsive to movements of the receiver motors. The indexes 35 and 45 however are mechanically connected to the gun, and so are invariably operated therefrom. This positive mechanical coupling is necessary in 0rder to avoid any possibility of incorrect registering of the actual position of the gun in relation to the data transmitted. Other coupling of the gun and indexes 35 and 45, such as electrical, for instance are subject to many possibilities of disturbance and vagaries which render them unsuitable.

I claim:

1. Automatic gun positioning apparatus comprising, in combination with a, gun and a remote sighting device therefor, a hydraulic motor operatively connected to said gun, a reversing valve for said motor normally spring biased to neutral position, electric valve operators to operate the valve for each direction of movement, a data receiver adapted to receive indications from said sighting device, a rotation contactor on said data receiver adapted to select one of said valve operthrough each lof said `disksn opposed relation when said dislm vare in synchronous relation,

' means to project -light through said openings when Y in opposed relation, and light sensitive means to receive light projected through said apertures, said light sensitive means being adapted to complete an electric circuit through said ro" tation contactor to one offsaid valve operators when said apertures are displaced and to interrupt said circuit when said apertures are in op- Y posed relation.

2. In an automatic gun positioning system, a hydraulic motor, a. reversing valve therefor, a pair of electric valve operators each constructed, arranged and adapted to condition said valve for a diiferent direction of action of said motor, a data receiver motor constructed to receive indications from a remote sighting device, a rotation contactar operatively connected to said data receiver to be shifted from one position to another to correspond with the direction of rotation of said data receiver, and means in each of said positions to establish an electric circuit to the corresponding electric valve operator.

3. In an automatic positioning system for a gun, an electrical coarse data receiver and rotary index synchronous therewith, an electrical fine data receiver, a positioning disk, means by which said positioning disk is driven by the ne receiver at the same relative speed as the coarse receiver, a, follow-up disk adapted to be driven from the gun, a. mechanical rotary index connected in 1 to 1 ratio with the follow-up disk and adapted to be matched with the electrical index for initial synchronization, and means controlled .by said ne receiver and said positioning disk for posii tioning said gun and the associated follow-up disk.

4. Means for positioning an object in accordance with signals from a remotely located control device, said positioning means comprising a data. receiver motor constructed and adapted to rotate in response to signals from a, remotely located control device, a positioning disc rotated by said receiver motor, a follow-up disc connected to the object to be rotated by the object, said follow-up disc Ibeing coaxial with and opposed to said positioning disc, an aperture being formed in each of said discs, said apertures being arranged so as to align with each other in one-relative position of said discs, motor means connected to said object to move the same, and means responsive to relative displacement of said apertures to initiate the action of said motor means, said motor means constructed, arranged and adapted on realignment of said apertures to stop the action of said motor means and including a light source fixed in relation to said object adapted to throw a light beam through said apertures when the apertures are aligned therewith, and light responsive relay means carried by one of said discs and adapted to receive light passing through said apertures, said means responsive to relative displacement-of said apertures including a contact arm rotatable by said receiver motor to either side of a neutral position depending upon the direction of rotation of said receiver motor, contacts at each side of said arm and circuits to motor governing devices therefrom, the contact arm being adapted to selectively complete an electric circuit governing the direction of action of said motor means. 1,612,118 1,957,240 JOSEPH F. JOY. '12,240,800

2,128,887 REFERENCES CITED s 2,208,656 The following references are of record in the 23381200 fue of this patent: ggg

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